


South Pole Chill

by PrincessDianaArtemis



Series: OTP-Tober [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Animal Death, Anniversary of the end of the War, Confused Katara, F/M, Hunter Sokka, Hypothermia, Male-Female Friendship, Naked Cuddling, One-Sided Attraction, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon, Protective Sokka (Avatar), South Pole, Stubborn Toph, Underwear, but in a platonic way, it's cold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26751130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessDianaArtemis/pseuds/PrincessDianaArtemis
Summary: Toph visits the South Pole for a friendly get-together and gets herself in an ice-load of trouble.Lucky for her, Sokka knows how to help her.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong/Sokka
Series: OTP-Tober [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948099
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	South Pole Chill

**Author's Note:**

> More platonic than shippy, I imagine the kids are at least five to seven years older here and celebrating the end of the war.
> 
> I'm using this OTP-Tober to branch out into other fandoms. Hope you enjoy it.

Toph didn't know why they'd decided that this celebration just _had_ to be held at the South Pole.

There was nothing wrong with the summer palace - or in her little corner of the Omashu castle. Anything was better than the situation she found herself in now - trudging through the snow heaped terrain of the pole.

She knew it was cold at the pole. Her previous visits had made it very clear that she needed a coat over a coat in order to just stay warm - she wished she was a blubbery mess just to keep the cold away. But it was so much more _frigid_ this time around - she didn’t need to see to know that her dripping nose must be covered in snowflakes.

“Are you okay, Toph?” asked Sokka for what seemed like the hundredth time, his hand around her wrist to help her through the ice. “We can always head back to the house. I can do this alone."

“No,” Toph said through her gritted teeth. “I promised you I’d help you bring back your catch and I’m gonna do it.”

He rolled his eyes, “Okay, tough lady. But I’m not gonna be too pleased when you get frostbite on that delicate little nose of yours.”

Toph made to stick her tongue out at him, but hesitated, remembering what had happened when Aang thought he was cute licking something in the cold South Pole air. So instead she sniffed through the mucus of her nose and scrunched it at Sokka, pulling a laugh from him.

“We’re going and that’s final,” she said, leading him through the snow, waddling and garnering a louder laugh from him.

“Alright, I’m letting you live your life but,” he stopped her with a tug to her wrist. “Promise me, Toph. That if you start feeling too cold you will tell me? I really don’t want you to get sick.”

“Sok - ”

“Promise me.”

She stalled in her movements, sinking in the snow where she stood and turned in the direction that his hand was in, “Promise, Meathead. I won’t let myself get turned into a human ice-slab.”

He squeezed her hand, a way for her to know that he was smiling at her and pulled her out of the snow.

“Alright, princess,” he said. “We’ve got a little ways to go and then we’ll be able to head back.”

Toph gritted her teeth, keeping them from chattering, “Sounds like fun. Lead the way, o’ mighty chief.”

-

Katara was waiting for them when they returned from the hunt. She had started some of the cooking - the greens and pastries - so that she was ready when Sokka returned with the meat. Aang had said he would return when the smell of smoking flesh was no longer curling over the ice, so she was getting a little antsy about her missing brother and friend.

She was startled when Sokka tossed the animal at her feet, ignoring her greeting and the splatter that almost landed on her feet, instead taking off towards the hut with Toph huddled on his back like a polar bear pup.

“Sokka - what - ”

“Can’t talk,” he said over his shoulder. “Toph is freezing. Gotta make sure she doesn’t get the ice sickness.”

She had so many more questions, but a glimpse of the black tips of Toph’s nose and the blue of her lips made her let it go. This was a thing her abilities couldn’t heal - this needed warmth, not water.

Once inside the hut, Sokka sat Toph down atop the pile of furs and wrapped her up in a blanket. 

“Get undressed.”

“ _What_?” Toph managed to say before the chattering of her teeth made it impossible for her to talk.

Sokka, in the midst of taking off his boots, turned to her with red-tinted cheeks that he was glad Toph would never see, “Your clothes are wet. I’ll get you something else to wear, but I need you out of those clothes. Body heat is the best way to warm you up.”

Toph’s fair skin was blue from cold and pink from the blood rapidly diverting towards her face, “I - I - oh, alright, but don’t think about getting grabby.”

“Toph,” he said, voice stern. “This isn’t funny. I’ll be back with clothes. Get undressed and then back under the blanket.”

He jumped away into the rooms within as Toph sluggishly slipped off one coat, then the other, until all that was left were her underthings and the blanket that she hadn’t gotten out of to strip. She heard his quiet muttering grow louder as he got closer dropping something soft on her head before she felt the blanket be tugged away.

“Snoozles?”

“I’m here, Toph. Scooch over, I’m gonna get behind you - we’ll be out of here sooner than you think,” he said, slipping behind her and pulling her close to his chest.

As his arms came to rub vigorous tracks up and down her arms, Toph felt her skin light up at every point they were touching, his heart beat tapping against her back.

Sokka perched his chin on her shoulder, “How you feelin’ there, Toph? Your nose is still a little dark - and your lips.”

“Don’t even think about it?” she said, weakly pointing a finger towards the sound of his voice, face prickling with the burning sensation. “How - how long do we have to do this for?”

“Until you’re not shivering, blue, or feeling like a thousand boar-q-pine needles are stabbing your skin,” said Sokka. “So probably not until Katara comes and gets us for dinner. Why? Is something bothering you?”

Toph wriggled in his grasp until she could turn towards where she could once feel his stubble scratching her shoulder, “No, just weird. Two friends - in their underclothes - people will talk.”

“Not down here, Toph. This is how you save a life. If anything, I’m your hero now.”

“Shove off, Snooz,” she said, turning back around. “I will never say you’re my hero, dummy. Now, shut up and keep me warm - isn’t that your reasoning behind taking advantage of a young, defenseless, girl?”

He groaned, thumping his head against her back, “I’m saving your life and you’ll never let me hear the end of this - besides, you’ve never been poor or defenseless. Now, let’s talk about something - anything other than you catching your death out there.”

She hmphed but let him distract her - relishing in the warmth of the hut and the feeling returning to her body. She’d worry about the implications of their position afterwards, when the twelve-year old in her heart stopped making such a big deal about it.


End file.
